Golf officials fret storms could hurt City qualifiers on Saturday

The qualifiers are Saturday at Helfrich and Fendrich.

A withdrawal or two means the odds are improving at one qualifying site for the Evansville Courier & Press Men's City Golf Tournament, but that's not the big concern for Saturday.

Instead, it's a threatening weather forecast that currently calls for a 50 percent chance of storms that has tournament officials worried as 137 players were originally set to vie for the 64 final spots in the City field at Helfrich and Fendrich.

Helfrich will host 28 players for 13 spots, while the field is in flux at Fendrich, which has at least one confirmed withdrawal and 51 spots for what was originally 109 players.

"At Helfrich we have a small enough field there's some wiggle room," said Bob Walther, the City's longtime tournament director. "Fendrich is another matter.

"It's a field of 107 or 108, depending on some withdrawals, which means a lengthy weather delay would be a concern."

Walther said if the round is washed out completely the course of action is clear. The rain date is the following Saturday, July 27. It gets tougher if a portion of players finish their qualifying rounds.

"If we had a large percentage of the field finish, we'd try and bring them back Sunday," he said. "But there's no definitive answer here because there are so many variables involved.

"We have to work within the schedule of Fendrich head professional David English because he already has rounds in the book for Sunday."

One player who has withdrawn was a strong contender for a spot in the field, Central senior Dylan Meyer.

"I have some bursitis and tendinitis in my shoulder and the doctor told me it needed rest," said Meyer, who won 11 of 12 high school tournaments at one point this spring. "So I'm taking the City and the U.S. Am qualifiers off."

There are no ties for qualifying spots..

All ties at the final qualifying score will play off for the remaining spots in the field on a hole-by-hole basis.

"It's always exciting," said English. "It's some of the most tense, pressure-packed golf we see out here all year."